


The Slug Club Christmas Party

by brutus87



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Romance, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-18 16:16:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21930247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brutus87/pseuds/brutus87
Summary: Harry needed a date for Slughorn's Christmas Party. He had a mission after all, and a date would help him get in, and closer to Horace. In the heat of the moment he asked a friend. But what if things turned out...just a little bit different?
Relationships: Luna Lovegood/Harry Potter
Comments: 10
Kudos: 86





	The Slug Club Christmas Party

**Author's Note:**

> Obligitory note that I own none of these characters, at all. Those belong to J.K. Rowling. This is just my...having a little fun and enjoying a 'what if' writing exercise.

Harry had intended, of course (or so he professed) that the 'date' for the Slug Club party be a 'just as friends' sort of outing. He'd invited Luna as a snap decision, but he'd seen how much she had enjoyed the invitation, and instantly known he could not take the invitation back. Such a simple thing to Harry, scrambling as he had been, meant the world to Luna Lovegood. Even with is 'just as friends' caveat.

The longer the night went on however, the more confident Harry grew in his choice of date to accompany him. Luna, radish earrings and all, still managed to be a very pretty witch, when she wanted to be. And she had wanted to be, that night, meeting Harry at the doors to the great hall in a stunning set of sliver dress robes and her stereotypical dreamy smile. Despite his fears that her unique perspective would prove a challenge for the young wizard, in his attempts at ingratiating himself with Professor Slughorn, Luna proved to be an asset, and not a burden.

While some of the other students at the party looked askance at the young Ravenclaw, many of the older adult guests found her perspectives and apparently random tangents to be downright enchanting, or at he very least, pleasantly amusing. Even Horace Slughorn himself seemed to fall under the blonde witches spell.

By the end of the night, it was Harry that had fallen sway to Luna's charms. As important, and frankly, as stressful as that evening had been Luna had kept Harry from cracking under the strain. Some times it was a joke that only he seemed to understand, said at just the right moment. Sometimes it was the way she'd discreetly slip her hand into his. The first time had been while Harry had been listening to that blowhard date of Hermione's, Cormac McLaggen. He was rambling on about the proper way to run a Quidditch squad. Harry had been about to lose his cool and inform McLaggan that if he was as heavy handed with kissing as he was with squad tactics, Hermionie would have a broken jaw. But just as he opened his mouth, Luna's hand ducked under the table.

Her fingers then wrapped around Harry's, lacing between the Seekers, shocking him out of his anger. He turned to look at Luna, ignoring whatever it was that McLaggan then said. She smiled up at him with a knowing expression, and he felt himself blushing red, but smiling back. Pulling his gaze away from her sliver eyes, Harry heard McLaggan asking if he were alright, and if he was listening. Without really thinking it through, Harry blithely replied, "Yes, and no. In that order. I was distracted by someone far lovelier than you, Cormac. You're just not my type."

Even Blaise Zambini found himself laughing at that . McLaggan flushed an angry red, and Hermionie looked away from both the Quidditch players, but to Harry's private delight, the usually unflappable Luna Lovegood blushed as well, though she smiled all the same. She wasn't used to compliments, but knew that even when he was ribbing someone else, Harry had said something nice about her, and meant it. 

They left they party hours later, hand in hand. Harry was laughing at something about a snorkack, with Luna giggling alongside. Not even a disgruntled Malfoy, sulking on the stairs leading away from Slughorns office where he'd managed to lurk after escaping Filch, could dampen Harry's good mood as the Gryffindor escorted his date back to the Ravencalw Tower. The two simply pretended that Draco's scowling face was nothing more than a bad painting.

It was well after midnight when Harry and Luna stopped outside a door with no handle but a bronze knocker, shaped like an eagle. Suddenly, Potter felt as if he no longer knew what to say. Harry only knew that he did not want the night to need. The young man fumbled with a bout of stammers, as Luna smiled up at him. He trailed off as he noticed a lock of her hair had fallen across her face.

On its own accord, Harry's left hand reached up and brushed the strands aside, tucking them behind Luna's ear. The blondes dreamy expression seemed to crystallize in that moment, becoming hyper focused on Harry, whose breath hitched in his throat. Pressing his left hand to her cheek, he pushed past his nerves and all the boundaries that he had placed between them, and into uncharted territory. For a moment the two teens seemed to be frozen in place, their gazes locked, green eyes to sliver.

Then Luna went up on her toes, and Harry bent his head forward. The hand on her cheek guided Luna in, and both teens shut their eyes as their hearts raced in their chests, their lips meeting in a soft kiss. They lingered there, not daring to even breathe, before slowly pulling back. Blushing again, Harry tried to come to terms with what he'd just done, but found his mind had gone blank. All he could think of was the feeling of Luna's lips on his, and how soft they'd been. There was a beat of silence that stretched almost to the point of awkwardness, when Luna whispered, "No nargles there."

Harry blinked, then laughed, his face breaking out into a smile. It was such a _Luna_ thing to say, and all he could think to reply with was, "We'd best be sure," and then he kissed her again.

A clocks single chime, ringing the hour in a sharp stroke that filled the hall way ended the impromptu snogging session in front of the Ravenclaw Tower door. Harry would almost swear he heard the eagle let out a sigh of relief, but he couldn't quite be sure. Luna lay her head on Harry's chest, taking a deep breath and wrapping her arms about his waist, before saying "So that wasn't a 'just friends' date after all." 

"Didn't end that way," Harry agreed, with a wide smile. "Is that a problem? I know you were excited to get to go with a friend." 

"I think I like a 'boyfriend' date more than a 'just friends date', Harry," she confessed to him, smiling bright, the radishes bobbing on the hoops in her ears. "We'll have to go out on another to be sure, I think." The smile turned shy as she watched Harry process everything that she had said. He'd always thought she was a clever girl, and if only anyone else bothered to pay attention, they'd see it to. The Gryffindor's smile grew all the more wide as he felt his heart burst with a rush of unexpected joy. 

"I think we can make that happen. If you want..."

"I want it more than I want to see a baby snorkack."

"I know how much you like those, Luna."

"And now you have a good idea of how much I like _you_ , Harry." she poked him gently in the chest with one finger, her hand bouncing back after. She giggled, and let out a wistful sigh, before wagging her finger at Potter. "Go to bed, Harry. I don't want my new boyfriend's brain to get a nargle infestation because he didn't get enough sleep. They like tired wizards, you know. Almost as good as wigs or mistletoe for nests."

"Nooo, we can't have that," Harry agreed, then bit his lip. "Tomorrow?" he asked quietly, an edge of anxiety in his voice. 

"Tomorrow," Luna confirmed, watching the taller boy give her a nod, and start to back away. Before he could get too far, she rushed forward and hugged him again, then leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Harry," she whispered in a voice he'd never heard her use before. Almost vulnerable. That's all she said as she started to pull away, but it was enough for Harry to understand what she meant, and more importantly what she felt. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. He'd been down this road before, with Cho, trying to date someone. This felt different though. This wasn't like his infatuation with her, nor the burning monster that sometimes rose in his chest with Ginny Weasley in view, hanging off of Dean Thomas' arm. This was...different. Somehow more pure a feeling, if he could call it that (he was a teenage male after all).

Nodding again, his green eyes sparkling, he mouthed 'no, thank you,' but didn't say it aloud. He didn't need to. He then trotted off, with a visible skip to his step as he launched his way down the tower stairs. He looked happier than Luna Lovegood had ever seen him, and that left her with just as much pep in her step as she spun, to wage a battle of wits with an exasperated door knocker.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've posted here on AO3. This was a little drabble I wrote a couple of months back. I shared it with a few friends and they rather liked it, so I thought, seeing as it's Christmas Eve, I'd go ahead and post this. I'm sure there are plenty of mistakes but, as I sit here drinking a cup of tea, I couldn't think of a reason not to post this. I do hope you all enjoy my little piece of holiday fun.
> 
> Merry Christmas, and watch out for the Nargles in the mistletoe.


End file.
